Why Do People Join Groups?

Groups are becoming more common on Facebook. They are a different way to interact with new people. There are lots of reasons why people would want to join a group on Facebook, here we will discuss the differences between a group and a page for a business. Once you understand the differences between pages and groups you should be able to better understand why people join groups on Facebook. You should also begin to understand the benefits of being in a group, also.

 

How is a Facebook group different than a Page?

Well they’re definitely different! Each has their own advantages and disadvantages and by the end of this article, you will know whether or not you should have one, why people join them, and why you should have one too. Let’s get into it!

If you have ever had the idea that you want to figure out how to use social media effectively and it’s made its way on to your To Do List, but then you keep sending down to the bottom of the list, because things that seem more important always crop up, or if you feel like it’s just too complicated and you will never get a grip of it, if you need a place to start, you’re in a great place.

There are lots of different things that you can do with Facebook. Sometimes you want to connect with people, talk about things that interest you, connect with different businesses, or even just to express how you feel. With Facebook you can do all of these things, but depending on what you want to do, you may need to know the answer to the question “What is the difference between a Facebook page and a Facebook group?” That is a great question and if nothing else, a Facebook page is your business listing on Facebook.

Facebook pages

Lots of people are searching for things on Facebook. You want to make sure that you have a Facebook page so that they are able to find your businesses opening hours, how to contact you, the products you sell, and even just to get more information. It’s useful to think of it like a Yelp listing, or a Google listing at its most basic form. A Facebook page is a place that people can leave your business reviews (although you can turn that off in your settings if you want to). And a Facebook page is public. Groups are not always public but a Facebook page is always public. So, that’s again where people can find you. The final piece that makes a Facebook page different than a group is you can actually boost and promote the posts on your Facebook page.

To boost posts can cost money and to get it right can take some skill. There is basic information available on Facebook about how to use their marketing tool. After all, they want you to get value for the money that you spend with them.

Now, this could change at some point. All of us in the industry think that eventually Facebook will allow people to advertise in groups and to our group members, but for now pages are the only place you can actually pay to play. To actually boost things, it is only on a Facebook page.

Facebook group

Now, a Facebook group is a community for people to gather together and have conversations. A Facebook group can be public or it can be closed. This means that anybody could find it by searching for it but they can’t see any of the discussions unless they join.

A group can also be private, which means that you can’t even find it unless you know about it, have the link, or get invited by somebody else. Now, we will say groups are getting bigger and bigger than ever. To take an example, when looking at a closed group; you can’t see the discussions until you join, but then you can hop in. You just need to be accepted by an admin, or an existing member depending on the settings, and you can jump into one.

Start at the beginning

There are groups that are huge. If you have the time to run a page and a group we’d suggest by all means do it. But groups are tough, especially in the beginning. The ultimate goal with groups is eventually you have got a bunch of people in there and they’re talking to each other and all you have to do is chime in every once in a while or post some content. But in the beginning is a lot of work.

Why do people join?

A group needs to be about something, maybe about a TV series, sports team, a local community, a group of friends, people who like certain music of food. There are many, many reasons that people create groups and why people would join them.

Community groups are great for sharing local information and sometimes allowing people to advertise their services locally. A group about a hobby will keep its members happy because they can discuss their favourite thing and not bore their friends or family.

There are groups for jokes, memes, for people to share their skills; these groups are great for connecting similar types of people and allowing them to be creative. Some groups have very strict rules and some let you do whatever the members want, the chance to be open with strangers is a great draw.

As a business

So at a minimum your business should probably have a Facebook page, and if you want to you could also have a group. But we’d suggest to never just have a group. We hope this helps anybody who has asked themselves about the difference between a page and a group.